Hey, guys! I think I had a pretty okay reading month! I generally liked three out of the five books I read this month! Unfortunately, I did really hate those other two problematic books. Like they were pretty dang bad, Y’all. But anyway, I’m sure you will get the gist of that when I get to them. I did start this month off on a really high note, though, with what is quite possibly my favorite book of the entire year, so let’s just go ahead and jump right in!
The first book I read in September was Renegades by Marissa Meyer
This is one of my favorite books–if not the favorite book–I have read this year. I was absolutely blown away by this book. I knew that people had been raving about it, but at this point, I honestly take YA book hype with a grain of salt because I have been tired of getting disappointed by overhyped books. This is a book that deserves all of the hype it has been getting, guys. I am in love with this book. From the complexity of the characters to the kickass storyline and very cute (albeit slow-burning) romance, this is a book that I think pretty much everyone can enjoy. It was just so fun and interesting, and because I am in school mode, it definitely made me want to write a paper on the way it examines heroes and villains. It was just so riveting and addictive, and I can’t believe I have to wait until November for the sequel. Obviously, I gave this 5/5 stars because it was absolutely bloody fantastic!
The next book I read was Bought by Em Brown.
This is the first book in the His For a Week series, and while I did enjoy this, I think this story ultimately had a lot of issues. There was a lot of abuse in this book and racism and homoeroticism, and I think that did ultimately hurt the story. The main character, Kimani, who is a black woman who is also a feminist and a journalist, does help to try to combat these darker themes, but ultimately I think this is a super triggering story, and the main love interest, Ben, doesn’t always protect Kimani or the other women like he should or wants to, and I think that is also not something that helps the story. While I did enjoy the writing and the budding lust story between Kimani and Ben (because let’s not kid ourselves; he bought her for sex), I did ultimately find that the good qualities did not outweigh the bad, and I gave this 2.5/5 stars.
The next book I read was The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
This is a reread for me that I did for my American Literature course, and I still enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I read it! I still really loved the conversation around sexuality and gender that this story prompts as well as religion and the separation of church and state. I am really looking forward to writing a feminist paper on it for class, and I did give it 4/5 stars.
The next book I read was Immortal Ops by Mandy M. Roth.
This is the first book in the Immortal Ops series, a paranormal romance series that is centered on two main characters, Lukian, who is a shifter that is hired to kill our second main character, Peren. I can’t say much about Peren’s character because spoilers, but this is a very fast-paced book. I do feel like it dragged a little bit in the beginning before picking up in momentum and setting the course of the story. I did find myself wanting more from it in regards to the development of a relationship between all of the characters, not just Peren and Lukian, and I wanted it to be longer. Overall, I did really enjoy this, however, and I gave it 4/5 stars.
And the final book I read in the month of September was Critical Intelligence by Mandy M. Roth.
This is the second book in the Immortals Ops series, and I am so upset because this was a huge let down for me. This book could have had a lot of potential, but ultimately it fell flat for me. This story follows Missy who is a Shadow Agent and a real fucking badass and her love interest, Roi, whom I despise. Just to explain myself, he says some really problematic fucking shit and he does some really problematic fucking shit, and I cannot stand him as a character. He is a manwhore, he is physical and dominating and I just felt like a badass bitch like Missy deserved so much better. I go more into my thoughts in my Goodreads review, but just know that I really did not like this book, and I gave it 2/5 stars.
And there you have it! Those were all the books that I read during the month of September. What books are you most excited to get to this fall? Comment down below! I would love to know. And that is going to be it for this post today. Thank you all so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time!
The Perks of Being a Book Freak 